Each month, we post an update to notify our readers about the latest archival collections to be processed and some highlights of our print material acquisitions. These resources are primed for research and are just a sampling of the many resources to be found at The Texas Collection!Continue Reading

Each month, we post an update to notify our readers about the latest archival collections to be processed and some highlights of our print material acquisitions. These resources are primed for research and are just a sampling of the many resources to be found at The Texas Collection!Continue Reading

Each month, we post an update to notify our readers about the latest archival collections to be processed and some highlights of our print material acquisitions. These resources are primed for research and are just a sampling of the many resources to be found at The Texas Collection!

Annie Jenkins Sallee and her husband Dr. William Sallee were missionaries to the interior of China in the early 1900s. This photograph shows the Sallees as guests at an ordination service in Kaifeng, the capital city of the Henan province. You’ll find these items in the Annie Jenkins Sallee papers, 1897-1967, undated (#715), box 1, folder 13, at The Texas Collection, Baylor University.

Annie Jenkins Sallee papers, 1897-1967, undated (#715): Includes manuscripts, photographs, newspaper clippings, diaries, and letters to and from Annie Jenkins Sallee and William Eugene Sallee, Baptist missionaries to China in the early 1900s through the beginning of World War II.

Texas Colony Association collection, circa 1870’s (#3295): Contains a broadside entitled “Texas Colony Association, Rapid Development of a Glorious Country.” It was produced in the mid-1870’s in an attempt to entice Americans to move to Texas, particularly the Kaufman County area east of Dallas

Thomas, Henry J., Mrs. The Prairie Rifles, or, The Captives of New Mexico: a Romance of the Southwest. New York: Beadle and Adams, [1868]. Print.

This dime novel, one of nearly 400 in The Texas Collection, contains the fictional tale of two women who are captured by Comanche Indians. Click here to view in BearCat.

Catalogue of the West Texas Military Academy: a Church School for Boys. San Antonio, TX: The Academy, 1904-. Print.

This catalog was produced just eleven years after the 1893 founding of the West Texas Military Academy in San Antonio. Two-thirds of the volume explains rules and regulations, administrative information, and academic standards. The remainder is devoted to athletics. Click here to view in BearCat.

Published as a special issue of the national publication Farm and Fireside, this volume highlights a group of Grayson County, Texas farmers randomly selected from the publication’s subscription list. Included in the volume are photographs of homes and descriptions of farms. Click here to view in BearCat.

This month we are featuring two students that worked at The Texas Collection over the summer. Check out the collections they worked with while they were here!

History doctoral student Joel Iliff

While scholars of pedagogy speak of “flipping the classroom,” I feel that my work at The Texas Collection has been an exercise in “flipping the archives.” By this I mean that as a historian I have long been accustomed to working with archival materials that others have preserved and organized, but now I have preserved and organized materials for others to use.

Julia and Finlay Graham with son James. You’ll find this photograph in Julia and Finlay Graham papers #4003, box 38, folder 7, at The Texas Collection, Baylor University. Rights: Some rights reserved. E-mail txcoll@baylor.edu for information about the use of our images. Visit www.baylor.edu/lib/texas/ for more information about our collections.

Instead of letting me get my feet wet with a small collection, the processing archivist, Paul Fisher, began my internship with a metaphorical cannonball into the 72 document boxes of the Julia and Finlay Graham papers. Hailing from Texas and Scotland, respectively, Julia and Finlay Graham met in post-World World II Palestine and served in the Middle East as Southern Baptist missionaries for the next forty years. Though most of the collection documents their teaching and evangelistic ministries, their papers also contain glimpses into the politics of the Middle East, as the Grahams witnessed events such as the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the Lebanese Civil War. After removing hundreds of duplicate pages, I reduced the 72 box leviathan to 50 boxes and a finding aid.

Closer to home, I also processed and created a finding aid for the records of the Waco Regional Baptist Association. Founded in 1860, the association remains a vital institution for Baptists in central Texas. I was particularly interested in the association’s records from the 1950s through the early 1970s, which provide a wealth of information on race and religion in central Texas in the era of the Civil Rights movement.

The historian in me constantly envisioned how these collections could contribute to studies of the modern Middle East, twentieth-century Baptist missions, the Civil Rights movement, and a myriad of other topics. Although these studies will have to be written by other scholars, I hope that I have made their jobs easier through my work over the summer.

For an aspiring archivist with my disposition and imagination, spending time with papers is ideal. At a certain point in processing archival documents, the collection becomes a real entity; life reenters the boxes, and a complex picture emerges. This reanimation is what I learned in my time at the Texas Collection working on the W.R. White papers. His world, voice, and experience had been locked away for decades, and now they are tangible again.

The collection has been a joy and a challenge. I processed a small four box collection for The Texas Collection in the spring, but W.R. White’s collection held 226 boxes—I had entered the big leagues. Undertaking such a vast and diverse collection has deepened my knowledge and appreciation of archival work.

Each month, we post an update to notify our readers about the latest archival collections to be processed and some highlights of our print material acquisitions. These resources are primed for research and are just a sampling of the many resources to be found at The Texas Collection!

July’s finding aidsBy Paul Fisher, Processing Archivist

When this family picture was taken in 1964, the Grahams lived and worked in Beirut, Lebanon. Julia led women’s ministries while Finlay served as president and professor of the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary.

Julia and Finlay Graham papers, 1916-2010, undated (#4003): Materials include correspondence, sermons, lecture notes, photographs, and book manuscripts about the evangelistic, educational, administrative, and personal activities of two Southern Baptist missionaries who lived in the United States, Mandatory Palestine, Jordan, Lebonan, and Cyprus.

This month, we added four volumes to our miniature book collection. This collection, which includes books no bigger than three inches in height, width, and thickness, contains more than 40 volumes. Be sure to compare the size of the volume to the quarter in the image.

Published on the occasion of the 150th celebration of the birth of Texas, this miniature book is filled with anecdotes as well as general information about Texas, including natural resources, regional information, and weather. Click here to view the Bearcat record for this resource!

In 1987, Hollywood celebrated 100 years. This volume was published to recognize those television, film, and music entertainers from Texas. Also included is a list of Texas themed films. Click here to view the Bearcat record for this resource!

One of only 75 copies printed, this book celebrates the life of Texas writer Fred Gipson. You may recognize Gipson as the author of the popular book Old Yeller, which inspired the Disney movie. Click here to view the Bearcat record for this resource!

San Antonio was, for a time, the home of Gutzon Borglum, the noted sculptor of Mount Rushmore National Memorial, which was dedicated in 1941. This volume was published in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the 1941 dedication. Click here to view the Bearcat record for this resource!

Each month, we post a processing update to notify our readers about the latest collections that have finding aids online and are primed for research. Here are July’s finding aids:

One of the Virginia and Paul Smith’s largest—and most successful—initiatives was founding the Jordan Baptist School in 1974. Securing approval from the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board and finding land for the school buildings took many years, but the school’s survival was assured when the King of Jordan enrolled three of his daughters. Here Virginia and Paul Smith greet King Hussein during his unannounced visit to the school. Virginia and Paul Smith Missions papers, 1955-2010, Accession 3953, box 1, folder 3, The Texas Collection, Baylor University.

Virginia and Paul Smith Missions papers, 1955-2010 (#3953): This collection describes the pastoral, educational, and humanitarian activities of two Southern Baptist missionaries that lived in the United States, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Morocco, and Lebanon. Materials include correspondence, photographs, and twenty years of Jordan Baptist Mission Board of Directors minutes.

Every Baylor student has heard Brooks’ Immortal Message to the class of 1931 (“to you I hand the torch”). But as president, he gave many commencement addresses, many of which are in his papers. In this address to the class of 1915, one can see Brooks’ eloquence was not limited to the speech for which he is best known. Samuel Palmer Brooks papers, 1880-1937, Accession 91, box 30, folder 2.

Each month, we post a processing update to notify our readers about the latest collections that have finding aids online and are primed for research. This month, all of our new finding aids are products of the Archival Collections and Museums class that worked on archival processing projects with us here at The Texas Collection…and there will be still more of this student work in upcoming months! Here’s the scoop for June:

Excerpt from Maudie Fielder’s notes on serving as a missionary in Asia. (Click on the image to see a transcription of the page.) Maudie Ethel Albritton Fielder papers #2241, box 2, folder 11.

Goode-Thompson family papers, 1837-1993 (#2794): Correspondence, a diary, and other records documenting the history of the Richard N. Goode and John Thompson families in Waco, Texas, with the bulk of the materials dating to the Civil War era. (Archives class)

Meusebach-Marschall family papers, 1847-1986 (#277): Correspondence, research materials, and notes for the publication John O. Meusebach: German Colonizer in Texas. The collection also contains other correspondence and collected materials related to Marschall family members (including Irene Marschall King and Cornelia Marschall Smith). (Archives class)

Before there could be a Cameron Park Zoo, the people of Waco had to support it! Waco Parks and Recreation Commission collection #2871, box 1, folder 8.

W.A. Holt Company records, 1925-1949 (#159): Holt’s was one of the largest sporting goods stores in Texas when it was sold in 1968; its records consist of several business record printing requisition orders, various sporting and academic ribbon printing orders, and approximately 60 Holt’s sports catalogs. (Archives class)

Waco Parks and Recreation Commission collection, 1987-1992, undated (#2871): Administrative documents collected by Georgette Covo Browder Goble during her service on the Commission from 1987-1992. Includes information on many important decisions that were made during Goble’s tenure, such as the construction of the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial and the early planning of the Cameron Park Zoo. (Archives class)

Each month, we post a processing update to notify our readers about the latest collections that have finding aids online and are primed for research. Here’s the scoop for October:

As part of their missionary work, the Bagby family founded many schools, such as the Colégio Batista in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Here Harley and Alice Bagby Smith (center) are pictured with faculty in 1927.P.D. Browne wrote at length about the Val Verde Battery, a Civil War military unit from Central Texas. Browne also wrote a lot about post-Civil War veterans’ reunions in Fairfield, Texas, where he taught school before becoming a professor at Baylor University.

P.D. Browne papers, 1860-1986: Materials reflecting Browne’s work for Baylor University, his involvement with Seventh and James Baptist Church, and his research interests in Freestone County, Texas.

Luther-Bagby collection, 1821-2001: Consists of correspondence, literary productions, financial documents, photographs, and scrapbooks generated or collected by Luther, Bagby, or Smith family members, primarily pertaining to the Baptist mission experience in Brazil and throughout South America.

Each month, we post a processing update to notify our readers about the latest collections that have finding aids online and are primed for research. Here’s the scoop for September:

As Dean of Women at Baylor University, Lily Russell was involved in multiple aspects of female student life at Baylor and with Baptist women’s organizations. This “bunch of keys” is just one of many party materials in her records.

Catherine Alexander papers, 1871-1962, undated: Alexander was a widowed Southern Baptist missionary who became a benefactor to Baylor University. Her papers provide insight into the network of conservative Protestant missionaries sent out from the United States during the first half of the 20th century.

Dr. Carl Lovelace was part of many notable historical moments during his lifetime, including the W.C. Brann incident in Waco, Texas, Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, the Madeira-Mamoré Railroad construction project, and World War I.

Each month, we post a processing update to notify our readers about the latest collections that have finding aids online and are primed for research. Here’s the scoop for June:

The Barnard-Lane Papers contain materials from many of Waco’s oldest and most influential families, including this daguerreotype of Lawrence Sullivan Ross, a former governor of Texas and brother-in-law of Barnard Lane (found in box 28, folder 7).

Gladys Allen papers, 1882-1893, 1913-1952, undated: Gladys Allen was a teacher, served on the Baylor University Board of Trustees, and was a member of Seventh and James Baptist Church. Includes correspondence, personal notes, genealogical research, newspaper clippings, and photographs.

Lyrics to “America” manuscript, 1895: This manuscript contains a handwritten copy of the song “America” or, alternatively, “My Country Tis of Thee,” by the composer Samuel Francis Smith.

Newel Berryman Crain papers, 1858-1948, undated: The Crain papers chronicle the experiences of a young man from Texas during the beginning of the twentieth century, from his time at Baylor through his various jobs and military service. It also includes correspondence from Crain’s grandfather, Newton M. Berryman, about his studies at Baylor University at Independence in 1858.

[Edcouch] First Baptist Church records, 1941-1974, undated: [Edcouch] First Baptist Church, originally named Los Indios Baptist Church, was organized during the summer of 1924 in Los Indios, Texas. It has undergone a few name and location changes since then. Records consist of manuscripts pertaining to administrative operations of the church.

Telegram from Mary Jane Hannah to her husband, Robert Lee Hannah, following the loss of their son, Bob. Bob Hannah was one of what Baylor calls the Immortal Ten who died in a train/bus collision en route to a basketball game in Austin. Hannah-Wiley papers, box 1, folder 5.

Hannah-Wiley Family papers, 1909-1930, undated: The Hannah-Wiley Family papers contain correspondence, legal documents, financial documents, and literary production relating to the family of Baylor student Robert “Bob” Lee Hannah Jr., who was one of the “Immortal Ten” who died in a tragic bus/train collision.

Independence Baptist Church records, 1873-1918: Independence Baptist Church was one of the first Baptist churches in Texas. Contains one bound minute book that describes church activities, finances, and disciplinary issues from 1873-1918 and also includes a condensed history of the church from 1839-1873.

Thurmond-Tramwell Slave papers, 1857: These papers include a document originating from Gonzales, Texas, which gives an account of a legal dispute between Thurmond and Tramwell over an enslaved woman.

Frank L. Wilcox Papers, 1923-1966, undated: Contains the personal and professional materials of Frank Wilcox, a former mayor of Waco and the son-in-law of former Texas governor and Baylor University President Pat Neff.